The God Particle: Getting My Faith & Joy Back

The Higgs Boson (AKA the God particle) recently won a Nobel Prize for its discovery. There are different particles responsible for different properties of the universe. This one is responsible for mass. It is called the God particle for two reasons: 1) because it is the foundation of all matter and 2) because it was so hard to find.

I want to talk about the God particle in our lives for two reasons: 1) God is the foundation of our lives and 2) the reason for our lack of spirituality can feel so hard for us to find.

Many of us have simply taken God out of our lives. We don’t talk about God or think about God, ever. We have removed God from our lives, and in doing so, have also removed our joy, faith, hope, and heart. If we put God back in our minds, hearts, vocabulary, conversations, mornings, and evenings, then everything will change.

The Source Of All My Joy

Send out your light and your truth; let them guide me. Let them lead me to your holy mountain, to the place where you live. There I will go to the altar of God, to God—the source of all my joy.
I will praise you with my harp, O God, my God!

Psalm 43:3-4 (NLT)

Have you lost your joy? We lose joy when we’re not with God. He is the source of joy. Once we take God out of our lives, we lose all our joy. Without God, we also lose our heart and lose the ability to care about people.

Is Your Happiness Lasting or Temporary?

“Don’t you realize that from the beginning of time, ever since people were first placed on the earth, the triumph of the wicked has been short lived and the joy of the godless has been only temporary?

Job 20:4-5 (NLT)

Are you friends with God? When we’re friends with God, we want to talk to him and tell him what is happening in our lives and in our hearts. We listen to God and want to know what he thinks and feels. We can’t wait to tell God what is going on and what we’re learning.

Relationships give life happiness. First with God, then with people.

Am I Happy?

You have endowed him with eternal blessings and given him the joy of your presence.

Psalm 21:6 (NLT)

I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.”

Psalm 40:8 (NLT)

Do you enjoy being close to God? That means we are happy doing God’s will. We can’t be happy when we aren’t doing the things God wants us to do and living the life God wants us to live. When we are isolated, keeping things to ourselves, inward-focused, or motivated by something other than love, we aren’t doing God’s will and we lose our joy.

A Right Heart => Joy

Light shines on the godly, and joy on those whose hearts are right.

Psalm 97:11 (NLT)

As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands.

Psalm 119:143 (NLT)

We need to get the bitterness, selfish ambition, and greed out of our hearts so we can be moved by the right things. When our heats are right, we are free to have joy.

Where do you go when pressure and stress bear down on you? Wherever we turn under pressure will determine how happy we will be and if we will have a happy heart. Finding joy in God’s commands is the key to handling pressure.

The Honest Heart Is a Happy Heart

Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty! When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away,and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.

Psalm 32:1-4 (NLT)

A free heart is an honest heart. Be yourself. Be content with who you are. Believe that God will help you and that God will be with you.

The Exchange

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

Romans 1:25 (NIV)

What are you exchanging God for?

How Do I Find God Again?

Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

Psalm 37:3-7 (NIV)

How Do I Find God Again?

1. Trust – See God in everything
2. Delight – Enjoy relationships with God and people
3. Commit – Make decisions and follow through
4. Be Still – Stop filling up on other things